Toronto Marlies | CollegeHockeyPlayers

21Nov

Brad Staubitz(16) Toronto Marlies

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Undrafted 9th year tough guy, right wing Brad Staubitz(16) has a one-way NHL deal for 2013/2014, but has been unable to find his spot on a roster. Signed to a 2-year contract with Anaheim Ducks, he was only played sparingly in the lockout shortened season and landed south with Norfolk Admirals to start the new campaign.

Disgruntled there after 7 AHL games, he was traded in hopes of finding a new start in Toronto Maple Leafs‘ organization but might have the same problem, few openings in the lineup and was reassigned to Toronto Marlies.

Never a player to mark up the score sheet with points, the 6’1″ 207 lbs. forward has never shied away from the rough stuff, amassing more than 100 penalty minutes in virtually every season and is strictly looked at as a fourth line energy source for a team.

It’s maybe a bit doubtful that the rugged winger will find another home in the show unless he reinvents his game some going into camp next season and catches the attention of a team in need of an enforcer.

13Aug

Simon Gysbers(24) Ilves

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After three years in Toronto Maple Leafs‘ prospect system, first a 2-year entry level deal and then a one-year extension, undrafted defenseman Simon Gysbers(24) was unrestricted but quickly grabbed a deal overseas in the Finnish elite league SM-liiga with Ilves for the 2013/2014 season.

He had good but declining numbers with minor league affiliate Toronto Marlies through 196 AHL games (16 goals, 65 assists, +7 rating). It just seemed that the clock on the parent club’s waiting game for him to develop had run its course though.

At 6’4″ 200 lbs. he’s a big frame although doesn’t necessarily play an overtly physical style. He’s more of a shooter and a set-up guy as indicated by his consecutive 20+ assist seasons to start his pro career. He also threw at least a shot (and more) on net in each game played.

The 26-year old is likely another soon-to-be former North American player that should do well on the bigger sheets of ice and different talent pool and we expect him to move up to some higher leagues. He could even potentially come back. We shall see. 10 more pounds of muscle probably wouldn’t hurt either.

09Aug

Brennan Evans(44) Grand Rapids Griffins

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11th year defenseman Brennan Evans(44) returns to 2013 Calder Cup Champions Grand Rapids Griffins for another season, signing a 1-year extension to stay with the team. They wasted no time to get him back into the fold.

He has played in a whopping 712 AHL games with 7 different clubs notching 14 goals, 93 assists and a highly accountable +23 rating often while under NHL contract but has never appeared in the big league.

The imposing 6’4″ 230 lbs. blue liner has yet to score over 20 points in a season but he’s been part of the triple digit penalty minutes club since his third year in the pros.

Almost ironically he put up better numbers in the postseason last year (2 goals, 6 assists in 24 contests) than he did in the entire 2012/2013.

At 31-years old, he will in all likelihood reach the elite group of skaters to play in 1000 AHL games but even if he comes up a bit short, he will always be able to look back on a great hockey career.

21Jul

Brendan Mikkelson (26)

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8th year defenseman Brendan Mikkelson(26) signs with his 4th NHL team for the 2013/2014 season, inking a one-year two-way deal with Pittsburgh Penguins that will likely see him added as a veteran presence with their minor league affiliate Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins to help with the squad of younger players in the system.

He’s skated in 131 NHL games scoring just 1 goal and 9 assists.

In 196 AHL games with 5 different teams those numbers tick upwards slightly to 18 goals and 48 assists but the large 6’3″ 210 lbs. d-man has never been noted for his offense production.

Almost ironically though he did strike for 4 goals and 3 assists in 17 contests for Västerås in Allsvenskan, the 2nd tier Swedish league during the lockout last season.

The blue liner only just turned 26-years old.

He was a part of the Syracuse Crunch team that went to the 2013 Calder Cup Finals but still seems to have untapped potential that no club has been able to locate.

Originally an Anaheim Ducks‘ 2nd round pick in the 2005 draft (#31 overall), if it doesn’t work out he would likely have a good ride playing the remainder of his pro career overseas.

05Jul

Will Acton(14) Edmonton Oilers

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After a couple of seasons with Toronto Marlies in the AHL, 3rd year undrafted, unrestricted free agent left wing Will Acton(14) signs his first NHL contract with Edmonton Oilers.

He follows his former coach, Dallas Eakins and dad, new assistant coach Keith Acton west to Alberta, agreeing to a two-year, two-way deal that will almost certainly see him play with their top notch minor league affiliate Oklahoma City Barons.

The 25-year played almost an identical amount of games in each of his two seasons in Ontario and showed an uptick on the score sheet in 2012/2013 with 8 goals and 11 assists. He was able to take that even further in the postseason scoring 4 goals and 2 assists in 9 playoff games.

At 6’2″ 190 lbs. he has a big enough frame to be considered a power forward and with the move and new challenge will likely pay dividends.

27Jun

Philippe Dupuis(19) Hamburg Freezers

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Heading into his eighth pro year, unrestricted free agent center/right wing Philippe Dupuis(19) will take his game to Germany joining Hamburg Freezers of DEL for the 2013/2014 season.

He was last spotted with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins but only appeared in 34 games scoring a pair of goals with 9 assists and a -7 plus/minus. He was signed by Pittsburgh Penguins for a 1-year, two-way deal and did appear in their shortened training camp before getting waived.

The previous season he was playing on a similar contract with Toronto Maple Leafs but unfortunately put up a goose egg in 30 games. His luck was far better with their minor league affiliate Toronto Marlies, where he put up 15 goals and 16 assists in 34 games with a +12 rating and did even better going all the way to the 2012 Calder Cup Finals. In 17 postseason games he had 4 goals and 10 assists with a +6.

In 2010/2011, the 6′ 196 lbs. forward skated almost the complete season in the NHL with Colorado Avalanche. He appeared in 74 games registering 6 goals and 11 assists.

He was originally a Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 4th round pick in the 2003 draft (#104 overall), spending a couple of seasons in their prospect system and even spent time in the ECHL with Dayton Bombers and went on a nice Kelly Cup run with the team.

It won’t be a surprise to see him become a point per game guy overseas, which he basically was throughout juniors.

21May

Alex Berry(29) Reading Royals

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3rd year right wing Alex Berry(29) is stepping up the effort for Reading Royals in the 2013 Kelly Cup Playoffs, his second postseason run with the team. He was part of the disastrous meltdown that bounced them out of the Eastern Conference Finals after going up 3-0 in the series.

In 18 games, he has struck for 7 goals and 4 assists, including the game-winner that has the Royals up 2-0 in the Finals. But even more than marking up the score sheet nicely he’s looked to for leadership in the locker room and on the ice and plays exactly that kind of style.

Signed to a one-year contract with Hershey Bears, he was recalled and reassigned 7 times during 2012/2013.

In 19 AHL games he had a pair of goals and 2 assists; and 6 tallies and 10 helpers in 29 ECHL games.

He also spent 21 games on the injured reserved late in the campaign but that was nothing compared to breaking his arm so badly in Portland Pirates‘ training camp in 2011 that it required two seperate surgeries in order for him to make a comeback.

Originally a Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 5th round pick in the 2005 draft (#153 overall), he signed a two-year entry level deal that saw him play in 55 games with minor league affiliate Toronto Marlies before being traded before his sophomore season to Tampa Bay Lightning.

The big 6’3″ 209 lbs. forward did fairly well for their affiliate Norfolk Admirals but was not retained for another campaign by the parent club and became an unrestricted free agent heading into 2011/2012.

He’s has 157 AHL games to his credit and looks to be making a good argument for a one-year extension.

19Apr

Brayden Irwin(29) Florida Everblades

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Undrafted, 3rd year giant-sized center Brayden Irwin(29) was released from his pto with Norfolk Admirals and returned to Florida Everblades to help them with another Kelly Cup run.

The 6’5″ 219 lbs. forward has seen action in 20 AHL games in 2012/2013 scoring 4 goals and adding 4 assists.

In 38 ECHL games, he’s struck for 14 goals and 15 assists. He also won last year’s championship with the team, registering 6 goals and 7 assists in 17 postseasons contests on the way to victory.

Originally signed to a 2-year entry level deal with Toronto Maple Leafs, he played his only pair of NHL games directly after wrapping up his collegiate career at University Of Vermont.

From there he skated 45 games with their minor league affiliate Toronto Marlies before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

The 26-year attended St. John’s IceCaps‘ training camp but was released and rejoined Florida for another campaign.

11Apr

Mark Owuya(1) Reading Royals

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Undrafted, 2nd year Swedish goaltender Mark Owuya(1) is in the final season of his 2-year entry level contract he signed with Toronto Maple Leafs in 2011.

He has played virtually an identical amount of games in both the AHL with minor league affiliate Toronto Marlies and ECHL affiliate Reading Royals. He was also in net for a half dozen games on reassignment with Las Vegas Wranglers this season.

At least in his sophomore campaign he didn’t spend as much time on the bus as he did in his rookie year, when he was recalled and sent down on 10 different occasions.

He was only reassigned half that much this season.

How a goalie is to get into any kind of a groove with that sort of schedule is a wonder but he’s the pro with the contract, so he adapts.

At 6’2″ 198 lbs. he certainly takes up a good part of the net and has a fairly smooth, somewhat unorthodox style that he makes work.

The 23-year old could easily slide back and play in the Swedish Elite League, Elitserien, where he was coming off back-to-back great seasons for Djurgarden and also won the league’s best SV%.

We’ll see.

07Apr

Ryan Grimshaw(32) South Carolina Stingrays

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Undrafted, rookie defenseman Ryan Grimshaw(32) signed a deal to join Trenton Titans to start the first full season of his pro career.

He inked an ato with them after his college playing career playing three games with the team.

The 6′ 195 lbs. hard-nosed blue liner attended Toronto Marlies‘ training camp on an invite but was reassigned to the ECHL at the start of the season.

In 23 games he registed 3 goals and 3 assists before being recalled to the AHL at the beginning of the new calendar year.

On a pto with the Marlies, he proved he deserved a place on the roster in 16 games of gritty play and was upped to an spc to finish out the 2012/2013 season.

While up in the higher league, his rights were traded to South Carolina Stingrays to complete an earlier season swap.

He was recently reassigned to help them in their bid for the Kelly Cup.

The 23-year former Harvard Crimson captain will likely be back soon as it appears the quest for ECHL excellence will end in the first round.